THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROVIDED SCHOOLING FOR WORKING CIASS CHILDREN IN BIRMINGHAM 1781-1851 Michael Brian Frost Submitted for the degree of Laster of Letters School of History, Faculty of Arts, University of Birmingham, 1978. University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. SYNOPSIS This thesis considers the development of 'provided 1 schooling for working class children in Birmingham between 1781 and 1851. The opening chapters critically examine the available statistical evidence for schooling provision in this period, suggesting how the standard statistical information may be augmented, and then presenting a detailed chronology of schooling provision and use. The third chapter is a detailed survey of the men who were controlling and organizing schooling during the period in question. This survey has been made in order that a more informed examination of the trends in schooling shown by the chronology may be attempted. The period 1781-1851 is divided into three roughly equal periods, each of which parallels a major initiative in working class schooling; 1781-1804 and the growth of Sunday schools, 1805-1828 and the development of mass day schooling through monitorial schools, and 1829- 1851 and the major expansion of day schooling. The first two periods are covered by chapters 4- and 5 respectively, and the last period by chapters 6 and 7 which deal in turn with Anglican and then Dissenting provision. These chapters examine the form and content of schooling, the nature of control within the schools, and the response of the prospective clientele the working class children. The final chapter, 8, examines for the whole period the various factors influencing levels of attendance in the provided schools. FOR MT GRANDFATHER BRIAN BOLTON BURROWS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. In presenting this thesis I would like to thank Dorothy- Thompson, my supervisor, whose advice and encouragement has been invaluable, and without whose efforts I would not have started this research. I would also like to thank Richard Johnson,' of the Centre* for Contemporary and Cultural Studies who has also given me much encouragement and from whom I have learnt a great deal. lv|y thanks are also due to the librarians and staffs of many institutions; in particular, those of the Birmingham Central Reference Library, The King Edward 1 s School Foundation Office, and the Blue Coat School. The writing of a thesis whilst also employed in a full time occupation is an onerous task, the burden of which does not only fall on the writer. Ity greatest thanks must go to my wife, Carolyn, and to my parents, who over the last few years have sacrificed much in order to help me complete this work. CONTENTS. Page No f s. ACKKOWI£DGEMENTS. CONTENTS. PREFACE. CHAPTER 1. Sources for the Statistics of Schooling : Their Reliability and Use. 1-27 CHAPTER 2. The Statistics of Schooling in Birmingham 1781-1851 : Schools and Scholars. 28 - 62 CHAPTER 3. The Committee Members of Birmingham's Provided Schools 1781-1851. 63 no. CHAPTER 4. Trends in Provision 1781-1804.. 111 164 CHAPTER 5. Trends in Provision 1805-1828. 165 224 CHAPTER 6. Trends in Anglican Provision 1829-1851. 225 - 296 CHAPTER 7. Trends in Dissenting Provision 1829-1851. 297 - 343 CHAPTER 8. The Problem of Attendance. 375 CONCLUSION. 376 381 APPENDIX A. 382 395 APPENDIX B. 396 400 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 401 415 PREFACE The years 1781-1851 saw the growth and expansion of a system of schooling which, following Richard Johnson, may be called the 'provided 1 system of schooling. These schools, both those already existing and those which were to be founded, differed from the other form of schooling which may be termed 'private 1 , in their modes of finance and control. The provided schools were essentially philanthropic ventures, providing a schooling for the children of the poor and demanding in return specific responses in terms of pupils 1 dress, behaviour and attendance at religious worship. In contrast the private schools existed as a straightforward financial arrangement between parents and teachers, and involved no obligations to behave in any specified form. This thesis is concerned with the development of this provided schooling, it has not examined the progress of private and indigenous working class schooling, which would be the subject of a thesis in its own right. One of the most necessary tasks in considering provided schooling in Birmingham was the need to establish an accurate chronology of its development. This has been done through the compilation of a detailed set of statistics relating to school foundation, existing school stock (2) (illustrating closure as well as foundation), and average pupil attendance. A considerable controversy has taken place recently over the use and value of nineteenth century "official11 statistics of education, that is those (1) Richard Johnson, 'Notes on the schooling of the English working class 1780-1850', in Schooling and Capitalism t ASociological Reader ^11976). (2) This thesis has defined pupils and thus children as those aged between 5 and 15 years of age. This age range is used as a general guide, for as is mentioned in the text, it is realised that many children outside this age range attended provided schools, including some adults. The education of working class adults, however, lies outside the scope of this thesis. from government or statistical society surveys. The controversy, between Professor West and Dr.Hurt is considered in greater detail in Chapter 1. This thesis uses these official statistics, but takes up a different standpoint from either West or Hurt. It seems that although considerable valid criticism of the statistics can be made, that to dismiss them out of hand as Hurt does, is to discard valuable historical information. The approach adopted in this thesis, in compiling the statistics of attendance in particular, is to be critically aware of the deficiencies of the official statistics and to use them in combination with the wealth of statistical information concerning provided schools that is found in local as well as other national sources. This combination of official with unofficial sources as well as providing a valuable check for the official figures, enables the compilation of an accurate chart of provision to be made, which clearly shows the various patterns in schooling development. In considering the statistics it is not disputed that there are problems in justifying the accuracy of individual figures. It must be stressed here that this thesis is not aiming to provide a set of figures which claim to show the exact levels of attendance in the schools, this is not possible; but by gathering and compiling as many figures as possible, one is able to see general trends in provision and attendance. It is in this context of combined overall trends that the importance of the statistics lies, not in the accuracy or validity of the individual components. The establishment of a chronology of schooling development is an important if apparantly modest enterprise; for an accurate account of the growth of schooling as an institution is a pre-requisite for any explanatory accounts of the history of schooling. This thesis is mostly concerned with explaining the trends that the statistics reveal. The charting of the patterns of provided schooling is to a certain extent the charting of patterns of philanthropy. Who exactly were the men involved in this philanthropic provision of schooling? Were there differences in social origins between day and Sunday school providers, or between providers from different denominations? A close and detailed survey has been made of the men who were school governors, managers or committee members of the provided day and Sunday schools in Birmingham. This initially involved ascertaining their occupations as a preliminary to social classification. It was found that a large number had job descriptions either too vague to allow classification or no description at all. To try to gain an insight into the social standing of these men and also to confirm the relative wealth of providers from the big bourgeoisie, as far as possible the probate records of all the providers were examined to determine the value of their personal estates at death. The information gained here was one pointer towards the social classing of the providers. The family connections, business connections and tenure of socially prestigious offices were also examined as further evidence of social status. From the accumulated information it was possible to note several interesting distinctions in providers 1 origins and this has enabled a more valid examination of the trends in provision to be made. A major feature of nineteenth century schooling was its development along denominational lines. A detailed study is made here of the differing fortunes of Anglicans and Dissenters in schooling ventures, attention being given to the nature of their responses to different situations. Obviously, the nature of providers 1 motives would play a great part in determining the sort of schooling offered. Considerable attention is paid to investigating the way that various social philosophies informed the schooling enterprise. To what extent was the content of the curriculum, the mode of discipline and the form of internal organization in the various schools operative in forwarding the motives of the providers? Consideration is given to these questions, and in doing so investigation is made and answers suggested as to why some schools were successful and others were not so.